Bringin it back for the Birthday

Well, Hello!! I've missed you all so much! I'm in shock and slightly embarrassed that I haven't blogged since Halloween-almost six months! We had a great (if you can use that word to describe long and cold) winter and now that spring is almost here, I'm dusting off the cob webs of my blog to share our birthday pictures. Xan is ONE-I can't believe it. As my dear friend Heather said to me "it's so cliche, but where has the time gone?", I feel exactly the same way; you always here parent's saying how fast time flies when you start having kids, but it's so true! Has it truly been a year since we welcomed this sweet little life into our lives and hearts? In some ways it feels like Xan has always been here and in another way it feels like I was just writing a post about the birth story and showing pictures of this little guy for the first time. This year with Xan has been so wonderful. There have been ups and downs and moments that have truly made my heart stop. Moments so precious there aren't any words to describe their tenderness or the joy you feel as a parent watching your baby learn, explore, change and become more and more the person God has made them to be.

I'll have to recap the more exciting parts of the last few months..there have been some changes with Alex's job (for the better!) and a few other things worth mentioning, but since this short post has already taken up to much valuable nap time, I'll leave with you pictures of the big day: March 7th. We had mostly family over to celebrate and it was a great time!

I restrained myself from going all out on his decorations, reminding myself that he will remember NONE of this. So we went with the birthday streamer, some balloons....


AND, oh yeah, about 50 Pupcakes which I found online and couldn't resist making. There are still a tray of them lingering around the house and the Milano cookie ears disappear one by one.


Our happy little family. Xan is quite the showman, seen here doing his Queen's wave that he is famous for.


I noticed a big difference in his gift unwrapping abilities from Christmas. He tore into this beauty! Look at those two baldies-could they be twins or what? The shape of their heads is identical!


A great big folding slide-Thank you Uncle Andrew, Aunt Erin and Claire-we can't wait to set it up!


The moment of truth-Xan's not a big eater, so i was worried he wouldn't delve right in.


No babies were burned in the making of this post.



Not quite sure what to think at first



Has to make a quick phone call on his chocolate hand phone.



It's safe to say he's a sweet's guy. He tore into that chocolate like a champ and was double fisting it.


And what would your birthday party be without playing your favorite game? Taking off your sock and having someone you love tell you how stinky it is and make faces about it. Such fun!

Happy Halloween, eh!

To much with the "eh", eh? Not on the next post then, but it fit so well with this one, too. Here are some pictures of my little pumpkin as a pumpkin. Basically these are blackmail for using when he's a teenager and I want him to take out the trash and he has a friend over. All I'll have to say is "don't make me get out the pictures of your first Halloween" and boom..the job will be done. Wahhhhh ahhhhh!

Seriously though, I don't know why we do this to babies, but it is so stinkin cute to see them dressed up as something impossibly silly and far fetched. I found this costume at Old Navy last December when I was pregnant for $4.99!! What a steal!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!!!



The two happy farmers showing off their bountiful produce! Note: I wasn't trying to hide behind the pumpkin despite what this picture would lead you to believe.



Xan has learned the wave, but isn't quite sure about the timing of it. I could just kiss this face all day long!



It was a late night by a 7 month old's standards, he held up pretty well until we put him on the floor to pose with an actual pumpkin. He didn't think it was quite as adorable as we did.

Happy Thanksgiving, eh!

We just got back last night from my parents new house in, get this, Ann Arbor, Michigan! That's right ladies and gentlemen, Grandma and Grandpa are now just a hop, skip and a jump across the border. (No idea why this is underlined!)

Today is the Canadian Thanksgiving, and although we didn't have our Torrie Family get together today, Alex and I did head to the farm to pick up Oscar and take some pictures of Xan in the gorgeous weather we're having. He's getting so big I can hardly believe it when I look at these pictures.

More from our trip later (not a month from now, I promise).

Oh, and few people who really care :) have asked about Xan's little episode and how he is doing. He's great! Everything has been "normal" with no signs or symptoms of seizures or fainting. He goes to our family dr. on Thursday for more shots. We haven't talked to her since the incident, so it will be interesting to see what she has to say.


Look at those two little chicklets on the bottom gum-and you can't beat little ears that stick out on a bald head!



Still rockin the "Mr. Intensity" look the majority of the time.












Throwing him in the air is sure to get BIG smiles





Sitting up like a big boy all the time now





Spoiling his fun, like any good parent should do



Not quite as tasty as his carrots

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

It's difficult to protect your heart when you hold it outside of your body. That's the only way I can describe what I was feeling when two weeks ago I was holding my Xan and praying to God that He would not take my heart from me, but that He would preserve this little life that I love more than I even know how to express in words. We're still not sure what happened with Xan, whether it was a seizure, a fainting spell or what, but I had to call for an ambulance when he had an "episode" that left him limp in my arms with no color and shallow to no breathing. We spent several hours at the hospital that night and were back within two days for an EEG where they monitored Xan's brainwaves for 30 minutes looking for signs of epilepsy. I don't want to go into a lot of detail. It was overwhelming emotionally and very scary and humbling at the same time. We got the news a couple of days ago that the test results came back normal, so this week has been spent in Thanksgiving. We're still not sure what exactly happened and we have a follow up appt. with the paediatrician Xan saw at the hospital, but we are hopeful that this was a one time thing and never have to ride in the ambulance again! After this experience I can't stop thanking the Lord for all He has done in our lives, so I want to share some of my thankfulness with you:

* I'm thankful for the gift of life: For Xan's life and the Life we have in Christ
* I'm thankful for being challenged in my Faith
* I'm thankful that I have a husband who led me through something terrible with love, kindness, tenderness, assurance and a quiet strength
* I'm thankful to live in a country where ALL medical bills are covered and going to the ER with your baby is not something you think twice about because of money
* I'm thankful that God answered our prayers the morning of the EEG and Xan fell asleep at exactly the right time and in the right position for the monitors
* I'm thankful for friends and family who prayed with us and for us


And now for the photo op...Xan is six months (as of the 7th!) and is officially on solids. So far in his food portfolio we have apple sauce, bananas and sweet potatoes, not to mention the oh so tantalizing rice cereal. Here are some pics of his first bites. I love his faces. He entertains me all day long with his cooky expressions. He's so much like his Dad it's scary!

Not to sure why I'm standing in front of him with the bowl and spoon!


A lil' help here pops...



I prefer to think he's mesmerized by my beauty in this one



I can't bring myself to try it, that cereal looks and smells N A S T Y



This face is priceless!



No wait, this one is priceless




Such rookies...we didn't even put the plastic bib on...

A Quick Hello

Don't blame me dear readers, blame my computer..she quit on me a couple of weeks ago and we've just gotten her back up and running...so, without further ado...some pictures! We are having a fabulous summer...soaking up the warm weather while we have it and spending lots of time outside and on the go, but unfortunately for you, not in front of the computer. I'll save computer time for the winter.

I've been riding Zoe a lot this summer which has been so refreshing since I didn't ride last summer. NO pictures of that though, the tight riding pants aren't camera worthy! Just pictures of my sweety pie..he is getting so big. He has TWO teeth, at five months, this kid is growing up tooooo fast!

I'm off to see how the rest of the blogging world is doing before chompers wakes up from his nap...adios and enjoy the rest of your summer!


He has the Meyer family's intensity for sure...we think that will come in handy for being in the Olympics one day..for the U.S. or Canada!



We cannot keep his nails short enough..he just tears up his face, typical boy, he's always bumping his head or scratching himself or something




This is the summer of drool!! I never get to see his cute outfits because I'm always staring at a bib




And Xan already thinks his parents are crazy!





Now I know why people chop their hair when they have babies!! Too bad I don't have the frame for a cute little pixie cut, it would be so much less painful!

Who Needs Church When You Have McDonalds?

One of the best parts about Alex being on his paternity leave is that our little family can go to church together more than every other Sunday. For the summer months, our church goes from two services to one 10:00 service (which I wish we had all year round) and we've been enjoying taking Xan to the nursery the past couple of weeks and having some time to be alone together and worship and just be quiet before the Lord and with each other. So imagine my displeasure when I woke up at 9:30 yesterday morning! Well, not all displeasure, it's GREAT to sleep in, I'll take it whenever I can get it, but I do enjoy these weekends when I can count on Alex being with us at church. He's sleeping in the guest room since Xan is still getting up a few times at night to nurse and I'd rather have one of us be well rested in the morning, so it was his job to set the alarm. I don't want to blame anyone here, but I was not in charge of the alarm, let's just make that clear. Anyway, I won't go to church looking like a ragamuffin, so we missed out, but the prospects of not having my daily outing for not good, I like to have one scheduled outing for everyday to keep my sanity, so we decided to take a day trip over to Collingwood, a cute resort town (which has a Starbucks!!!!!) about 45 minutes from here. We also thought it was time that we try Xan in his first restaurant experience, so we picked the noisiest place we could think of where no one would notice or care if a baby was crying and where we would feel like morons if one of us had to stand up with him while the other ate (as we do at home), so our restaurant of choice was naturally the old faithful of all children, McDonald's! Let me tell you, THIS is where all the people gather on Sundays. I could not believe how packed that place was, call me naive, but I thought McDonald's was on it's way out with the healthy food movement that's going on, but oh no, it was bumpin! We both got a Santa Fe chicken sandwich that was surprisingly good and Xan absolutely loved it; he's been really hamming it up lately whenever he has a crowd so he was doing his best to entertain everyone in line who would look at him. His new thing is standing and he thought the table was just made for him to stand on while we ate and survey the entire place...there certainly wasn't any shortage of people to look at; I still cannot believe how busy that place was on a Sunday...doesn't anyone go to Church anymore? Maybe they do and they go to McDonald's for lunch after and change on the way?

Like I said, Xan's starting really putting on a show for an audience. He's learned a few new octaves in his voice and does "the shriek" a lot now when people are watching him. Everyday is something new; it's just amazing to watch them learning and figuring things out!

We went to a friend's cottage (lake house to the Southerners) on Wednesday. It was absolutely gorgeous, but the water is still to chilly for swimming, so not bathing suit, thank goodness! Xan slept in the shade most of the time; I can't really blame him, look at this setting-stunning!


And here we have him really hamming it up for Daddy! This was his first bath that he loved with not a single tear or worried look. It was the most fun we could have had that afternoon.



"This arm thing is so cool!"



I love those eyes and that smile





We have no idea why, but he loved the washcloth on his head...you never know what will be a hit!

The Rents

A quick sidebar before the actual post: The other day I referred to my parents as "the rents" and Alex said he had never heard this term before. What? Who hasn't heard of "the rents" when talking about your parents especially during your rebellious teenage years? After laughing with (at) him, we had an uber intelligent discussion as to what "the rents" actually meant. I said that naturally it's because you lived and mooched off of your parents for so many years that they were like your landlord, you should have paid them rent, etc. He said (even though he's just now hearing for the first time) that it was the short form for parents...anybody? any ideas? short form or metaphor?

Speaking of "the rents" we had a great surprise this weekend; they came to visit! It was a short trip, only two days that they were actually here, but it was great to see them. Mom called Thursday night and said they would be here on Saturday, so I spent all of Friday frantically cleaning, like any good daughter! We got to go to church Sunday and show them what a big boy Xan is to go to the nursery all by himself for the second week in a row. And last night we went to Alex's baseball game to cheer him on. They left this morning, but Mom is coming back in a few weeks so it wasn't a tearful goodbye, especially since they were kind enough to let me sleep when they snuck away early this morning.

There is only one thing this little man wants: his hand. When he's sleeping, he wants his hand. When he's playing, he wants his hand. He even kept trying to sneak it into his mouth while he was nursing. He'd be happily guzzling away and suddenly his hand would appear and push it's way into his rather large mouth. We've tried a "soother" as they call them here...binkie, or pacifier for everyone else; he'll have nothing to do with it. It's pretty cute now, but hopefully he doesn't end up being the kid in 1st grade who's still sucking his thumb.


I promise that he does smile. Whenever I whip out the camera he looks at me like he's never seen me before.



Notice any similarities in these pictures?



Don't they look to young to be grandparent's? Thanks for coming, we miss you already!